FFVII Atop the Rotting Pizza
by SeyJe ShinRa
Summary: Final Fantasy VII novelization as told from the perspective of ShinRa and the Turks.
1. Chapter 1

Final Fantasy VII – Atop the Rotting Pizza

Chapter I

It was just before dusk, and the assignment had just been ordered. President Shinra had just affirmed the task that had been circulating in rumor for the majority of the day. One of Don Corneo's men had let slip inside the building what was to be confidential between he, the president, and his department executives. AVALANCHE was going to be destroyed tonight, and the Ancient would be in their hands.

A plan concocted no doubt by the president and his two closest associates: Scarlet, the head of Weapons Research and Development, and Heidegger, the head of Peace Preservation and Public Safety Maintenance, had been passed on to Tseng of the Turks a mere half an hour ago. Although the other important people of the company may not have agreed with it, their opinion didn't change the decision. In fact, Reeve, the head of Urban Development, had fought the president even after the Turks had flown off via helicopter to perform the task.

AVALANCHE was a terrorist group, first and foremost. As with all terrorist groups, they claimed they had a noble cause, but the deaths of innocent people still made them a terrorist group. The destruction of two Mako reactors in Midgar led to the deaths of many. AVALANCHE claimed that sucking Mako out of the planet and using it to power the city was killing the planet, but the president hadn't seen any proof of this. As far as he was concerned, the planet was on its way to hell anyways. What he knew was that Mako was energy produced by the planet, and that it could be harnessed to benefit mankind. People paid money for electricity, and Mako provided electricity. Thus, President Shinra made money. There were no competitors, and he had become so wealthy and powerful over the years that his company became the sole government body in most of the world, and had the only army as well. With the exception of a small rebellion in distant Wutai a few years earlier, AVALANCHE was the only worry he'd had in a long time. Professor Hojo, the company's top scientist, had assured him that mining and processing Mako was no threat to the planet, and the president believed him implicitly.

There the president stood, standing at the window of the 70th floor or ShinRa Tower, in the center of Midgar, above the sector plates. He was overlooking the Sector 7 plate, which very soon would be in ruin. Don Corneo, a gentleman of leisure who resided in the Sector 6 Wall Market, under the plate, had given the company valuable information that AVALANCHE's headquarters was in the Sector 7 slums, also under the plate. The only way the president could be sure to eliminate every member of the group was simple: blow up the pillar supporting the plate, so that it would fall and crush every inhabitant of the slums. The upper class of citizens living above the plate had already been evacuated, and the president merely awaited the report that the Turks were in position. Then he would be standing at the window of the 70th floor, overlooking what used to be the Sector 7 plate.

* * *

The loud hum of the motor and even louder whir of the blades coupled with the cool breeze that blasted into his face as he stood at the edge of the helicopter door, speeding toward the Sector 7 pillar made it hard for Reno to hear his best friend and partner's voice. He knew already what he had said though. He would be there shortly, and be faced with the task of destroying the Sector 7 pillar, killing hundreds of innocents. The lump in the pit of his stomach made it hard for him to not think of what he must do. He was a Turk though, and he was paid, well in fact, to not care. It was his job to do all the dirty jobs that Shin-Ra Inc. liked to keep unknown. Normally this involved eliminating threats, and putting down terrorists that got what they deserved. The deaths of innocents for the sake of eliminating an entire terrorist group weighed heavily on his conscience, and he knew he'd be going to hell for it. Although, he figured he was probably already on his way there anyways.

About a dozen heligunner machines had already been deployed around the pillar to ensure there would be no opposition, although according to Tseng, AVALANCHE already knew what was going to happen. Tseng's knowledge and wisdom scared even the president, he thought as he gazed upon the back of his boss' long, black hair. He knew almost nothing about his boss, other than he must be from Wutai, as the shape of his eyes and color of his skin gave away. He had a birthmark in the center oh his forehead, often reminding him of a third eye, which only added to the idea that Tseng knew far too much more than he ought to have. Reno's best friend, the pilot of the helicopter, was a tall bald man with a goatee and many earrings. Rude was just as intimidating as Tseng, but him for his stoicism and size, rather than Tseng's chilling aura. Rude always wore sunglasses, which only added to his unreadable visage, as his eyes were impossible to see behind them.

Within minutes they arrived at the pillar. Before Reno noticed any hint of a problem though, the helicopter was hit by bullets. Reno was immediately alert, pushing his own sunglasses up onto his forehead and unclasping his electromagnetic rod from his belt. A large black man, just as tall as Rude and built like a house, was firing at them with a machine gun that was seemingly grafted onto his right arm where his hand should have been. This must be Barret Wallace, the leader of AVALANCHE according to confidential reports.

"Reno, try and make this fast, we'll distract him for a bit. Jump!" Tseng commanded him, and Reno quickly complied. Rude swept over Barret's head, and Reno dove out the door, landing ten feet below on the platform at the top of the pillar. Barret's back was turned, as his gaze had followed the fleeing helicopter and he must have not seen Reno dive out. This was perfect for him. He raised his rod, and moved to prod him in the kidney, sending a high voltage of electricity through his body, capable of knocking him unconscious.

However, this did not happen. As Reno moved in, a man with spiky blond hair dressed in a SOLDIER uniform wielding an enormous buster sword, and a brunette armed with nothing save for a black miniskirt and white tank top reached the top of the stairs and warned Barret of Reno's sneak attack, and Barret quickly spun around and backed away, holding his gun-arm toward Reno. Without asking questions, he fired. Reno was ready for this though, and dove to the side, rolled back to his feet and sprinted past the three AVALANCHE members. He ducked behind the pillar, which rose up through the center of the platform, and reached the Pillar Release System computer built into the side of it. He quickly put a key in and broke the key after turning it, disposing of the half in his hand. As Barret adjusted his position to take aim again, Reno held out his rod and muttered the incantation for a pyramid spell courtesy of the Contain materia in his rod. Instantly, before Barret could fire, he was trapped inside a translucent yellow pyramid.

Reno turned back to the computer and input a code as the two others charged toward him. He lazily raised a hand to motion to them to stop. "You're too late, once I push this button…" He told them, and before they could say anything, he hit it. "That's all folks! Mission accomplished."

The girl cried out, "We have to disarm it! Cloud! Barret! Please!" Barret pounded and shot at the interior of the pyramid, but no sound came out. The pyramid didn't even crack.

"I can't have you do that. No one gets in the way of Reno of the Turks…" He drawled, and braced himself as he saw the blond, Cloud, charge at him with his sword in the air.

* * *

Tseng arrived in the Sector 5 slums right above Aerith's house. He and Rude had followed her from Sector 7 while she rescued a little girl. Tseng calculated he would bring her to her house, and it seemed as though his suspicions were correct. Rude had let him down from the helicopter before she got there, and taken off again, allowing Tseng ample time to find a spot in her large garden to hide and wait to attack. Within minutes, she arrived, with the young girl as well. Tseng waited for her to open the door, and then as she did, he sprang up, vaulted over the fence and landed feet away from her. Aerith jumped and turned abruptly toward him. She told the young girl to go into the house and she closed the door afterward, and then held her staff in a defensive position.

"I'm not going to run this time, Tseng," the Ancient told him. Tseng merely laughed off this comment however, knowing all too well how this would end.

"Then you surrender yourself to me, Aerith. I've been trying to get you for years. I wish you'd have done this a long time ago. It would have saved time, and perhaps we could have gotten to know each other on better terms," He told her, his voice soft, yet direct and powerful.

"I'll fight you! You're not going to take me now! Not when you're killing all those people in Sector 7!" She exclaimed to him, raising her staff higher, ready to attack.

"You'll lose," He said simply to her. He then advanced on her, and she brought the staff down hard. Tseng caught the end of it before it could hit him though, and wrenched it out of her hands. Aerith stumbled forward as he did this, and he swung it around in a sweeping motion, slamming it against her legs and knocking her to the ground. He used the momentum he had and brought the staff around again and brought the tip down, inches away from her face and stopped it. "Don't move, or I'm afraid I'll be forced to harm you. I can tell you truthfully that that is not my wish." Aerith stared at him coldly, but didn't object. Tseng pulled a pistol slowly from a shoulder holster under his jacket, and Aerith's eyes grew wide. He knew she was scared, and was happy she didn't seem to make any attempt to fight back. However, Tseng wasn't about to shoot her. He aimed the pistol skyward and fired one shot, signaling for Rude to pick them up. The helicopters rotors came within earshot in seconds, and Tseng holstered his pistol, and lowered the staff. He extended a hand to help her up.

She took his hand, and got to her feet. "Please, let me speak with Marlene and my mother for a moment first, then I will come without a fight, I swear," She begged, and the sincerity in her voice was easy for someone like Tseng to pick up on. He thought for a moment, realizing there was nowhere she could go without Rude seeing her, and permitted this. A few minutes later, Aerith emerged from the house, and Tseng led her to the helicopter. They boarded it, and Tseng still held onto her weapon, and moments later, Rude had taken off, prepared to pick up Reno before the plate blew. They'd fly back to headquarters, deliver the Ancient to Professor Hojo, and call it a day.

* * *

Reno had never had a fight like this before. He couldn't tell if he was having fun or panicking. He was swinging his rod faster than he'd thought he possibly could while defending himself from Cloud's expert swordsmanship. The large buster sword was too big for Cloud to swing quicker than Reno could block, but it didn't change the fact that he was losing. Reno had seen Cloud once before, at the Sector 5 church, helping the Ancient escape from him before he could kidnap her.

When Cloud had first charged at him, Reno had narrowly evaded the attack, and sprinted toward the unarmed girl, whom he found out was named Tifa. He raised his rod, but before he could swing at her, she back flip-kicked him in the jaw, sending him backwards. "So she was a brawler," he had thought to himself, and kept that in mind as he quickly regained his composure. She swung a hard left hook at him, but he managed to bat it away with his right arm, and drove the end of his rod into her stomach, activating the electricity and sending her writhing backwards, convulsing in shock. He quickly turned back around to find Cloud on top of him, and he brought the sword down, slicing Reno's arm open, leaving a bloody gash in his right bicep.

Reno retaliated, swinging wildly at Cloud, hoping to knock him off his feet long enough for Reno to escape. He had expected Tseng and Rude to be back by now, but he couldn't even hear the whir of helicopter blades yet. Cloud blocked Reno's attack, and parried it off to the side, then kicked him in his unguarded chest, sending Reno reeling backwards. He steadied himself quickly, and prepared for the next flurry of blows, but instead of attack, Cloud slung his sword over his back, and extended his arms, calling out an ice spell.

Reno felt the cold overcome him. Shards of ice seemed to be stabbing at him at all sides, and the cold sapped all his breath out. It was gone as quick as it had come, and Reno found himself lying on the ground. Looking up slowly, he saw the dizzying image of Cloud slicing through the pyramid that encased Barret. He knew he had to escape soon, or else he'd be killed. They'd try to make him disarm the bomb, but he wouldn't be able to, as he'd broken the key in half while still inside the keyhole specifically so it couldn't be disarmed. Rather than attack Reno, however, Barret tended to Tifa, making sure she was okay. Reno didn't think he'd shocked her with enough voltage to kill her, but he knew that what he'd given her would have been enough to take out a full-grown tiger. Cloud however, turned his attention back to him, and Reno knew he'd have to escape.

Climbing back to his feet, Reno could hear the telltale sound of the helicopter circling below him, and knew if he could only distract AVALANCHE long enough, he could jump over the railing, and catch onto the helicopter below for a smooth getaway. Cloud charged him again, but Reno had no intention of engaging him again. He inverted his rod, and sprayed gas out the end from a concentration of a Seal material. Whether or not it put Cloud to sleep, he didn't know. But the thick gas provided enough cover for him to turn and run to the edge. "It's time," He said to AVALANCHE as he grabbed onto the railing and prepared to jump.

It happened so fast. The helicopter moved into position below him, and just as he vaulted over the guardrail, the sound of gunfire rang in his ears. Five or six bullets hit him in the middle of his jump, and he fell. The bulletproof vest he wore beneath his Turk uniform defended him against most, but a few stray bullets hit him in the arms and legs. Losing all balance as he lost his wind, he plummeted downward, right past the helicopter. "I can't reach it," was the last thing he thought as he lost consciousness, and he felt a firm vice clamp around his wrist.

* * *

Tseng pulled the unconscious and severely beaten form of his partner into the helicopter, and laid him out on the seat in back as Rude raised the altitude above the platform, where Tseng could get a clear view of Cloud, Barret, and a recovering Tifa. It appeared as though Cloud was attempting to disarm the bomb. "That's right," he told Cloud. "You'll have a hard time disarming that one. It'll blow the second some stupid jerk touches it."

"Please, stop it!" Tifa begged him.

"Ha ha ha," he laughed, "Only a Shinra Executive can set up or disarm the Emergency Plate Release System."

"Shut yer hole!" Barret roared, and he opened fire on the leader of the Turks. Tseng stepped back into the helicopter, out of harms way, and grabbed Aerith's arm, wrenching her back out into view with him.

"I wouldn't try that," he said, "You might make me injure our special guest."

"Aerith!" Tifa gasped.

"Oh, you two know each other? How nice you two should see each other one last time. You should thank me," spat Tseng. He was through with these terrorists, and ready to leave and collect his pay.

"What are you gonna do with Aerith?" asked Cloud, finally speaking, and interrupting Tseng's thoughts.

"I haven't decided," Tseng lied, now with a hint of annoyance in his voice. "Our orders were to find and catch the last remaining Ancient. It's taken us a long time, but now I can finally report this to the president."

Aerith piped up, yelling to Tifa, "Tifa, don't worry! She's alright!" Tseng slapped Aerith in a burst of anger. These… children were starting to piss him off. He signaled to Rude to fly off, but he was currently in the back examining Reno.

"Aerith!" Tifa exclaimed again, clearly appalled that she'd just been slapped.

"Hurry and get out!" Aerith replied to her, causing Tseng to push her back inside the helicopter, out of the eyesight of AVALANCHE.

"Ha ha ha," he laughed despite himself. He saw Rude out of the corner of his eye moving back up to the pilot's seat and grip the controls. "Well, it should be starting right about now. Think you can escape in time?" The helicopter flew away, and Tseng moved to sit down in the back next to Reno, examining his partner's wounds himself. He was glad he'd never have to see them again. AVALANCHE would be done for, and he finally had possession of the last Ancient. Finally, he could rest knowing there was no job being left unattended to at the end of the day. He was cheering up already.

* * *

President Shinra stood at the window of the 70th floor of Shinra Tower, overlooking the Sector 7 plate. A moment before, all had been silent. With no warning, a fire erupted and the sound of metal grinding and crushing as it fell swept through all of Midgar, even reaching the president in his sky-high retreat. He watched with a gleam of satisfaction at the destruction before him, and the death of AVALANCHE. 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter II

Elena was a short blonde woman in her early twenties who had been a secretary to the head of a section of a division of the Weapons R&D department for a few years now. She was in the middle of going over a report for the third time, when she heard the rumbling and crashing outside her office window. Easily distracted as she was despite her overachieving mentality, she turned from her desk to look behind her to see what all the noise was. She wished she hadn't. She watched in horror as one of the plates collapsed in on itself. She thought of all those people that must be dying right now. How could Reeve have allowed something like this to happen? Hadn't they tested over and over again the durability and stability of each plate before they'd let anyone settle in? All those people under the plate were being crushed, and all the people on top of the plate were falling to their doom. Then she remembered something. Everyone on top of the Sector 7 Plate had been vacated earlier that day. Then she realized it was the Sector 7 plate that was falling. Had this been planned? What about the people under the plate? Were they safe too? Why was Shinra destroying Sector 7? She knew she could find the answers in time, but all she could do now was watch in horror at the destruction before her eyes.

* * *

President Shinra had gone too far, thought Reeve Tuesti as he marched down the corridor of the 65th floor, toward the model of Midgar in the center. He was relieved that this floor, his office, was reserved only for Shinra department executives, none of which were there at the moment. He wanted to be alone right now. He could still hear it from inside the isolated room in the center of the floor. He knew the sound of the plate would haunt him long after it was finished crumbling. This was a personal blow to him not only ethically and morally, but personally. He had designed the plate system as a means to design living space for twice as many people. An even bigger blow to Reeve was the amount of money that would be taken out of his department in order to rebuild.

Reeve knew what was happening to this company. Its money-loving president didn't care for anyone other than himself. He didn't even care about his only son, whom had been in miles away in Junon ever since his appointment to vice-presidency three years ago. He was to arrive back here by helicopter late tonight. Reeve could only wonder what Rufus' reaction would be when he learned of his father's order to destroy Sector 7. He hoped his father's heartlessness hadn't carried on to his son. Scarlet and Heidegger had approved of the plan too. Reeve had a suspicion that it may have been Heidegger who had suggested it in the first place. To Heidegger and Scarlet, people were toys to be played with, and only cared about gaining as much power over people as they could. Hojo hadn't even expressed an opinion on the matter. As he spent more time with creatures and machines than with people anyways, Reeve suspected Hojo had himself become less than human, shedding all emotion entirely. Palmer seemed to be the only person besides the Turks to agree with him, but Palmer was never taken seriously, as his department was all but defunct, and the Turks didn't have the ability to share their opinions. The mayor ofMidgar was against the order too, but his opinion didn't matter either, as he was just a figurehead. President Shinra had control over all.

Reeve sighed as he looked over the model of Midgar he had built so many years ago. If he were president, so many things would be different. People wouldn't live in poverty below the plates. He had originally intended on air filter systems to let outside air into the lower sections, and generators that would portray a false sun and sky, giving the people the impression that they didn't live underground. However, the president hadn't deemed any of this cost-effective, and so instead, the people below the plates lived in poverty and filth.

In a sudden burst of rage, Reeve grabbed onto a wrench near him, and smashed the miniature version of Sector 7. He was going to do something to save this company and steer it in the direction of good. He made that vow to himself right then, and decided that only he good change it. He didn't know how, but he would make sure that no one else suffered because of Shinra's greed.

* * *

Reno awoke to find himself lying in a hospital bed. No one else seemed to be in the room except for Rude, who sat on the edge of the bed, reading a paper. "Hey partner," he said, finding his voice a bit sore. "How long have I been out?"

"Only an hour or so," he replied, turning to face him. "You've proven to show you have an excellent recovery rate."

"Well you know me, never sleep for too long at once, right?"

"Anyways, for once we were happy you don't tuck your shirt in or wear a tie. It made it a lot easier for us to get your shirt off fast enough to apply proper bandaging. I have to confess though; we ruined the buttons on your shirt."

"Well yeah, I planned on getting shot, obviously. Why else would I never dress in full uniform?"

"You lost your tie the week after you got the job."

"Yeah well, I think I've proven that my laziness is a reasonable sacrifice for the quality of my work."

"Yeah, well you just get some rest. You'll be out for a while now. Shouldn't be walking for a few days, either."

"Shit. I took a beating back there, didn't I? Did everything go as planned?"

"Everything."

"Shit. I was kind of hoping they'd somehow be able to stop the bomb. We got the Ancient too?"

"That's correct. Unfortunately, the plate was destroyed just as planned." Their conversation was cut short as Tseng swept into the room, closing the door behind him.

"Sorry to interrupt, but there's a problem," he said to them, and Rude stood to face him. Reno just turned his head, unable to move much. "AVALANCHE is still active."

"WHAT!" Reno blurted out; unable to believe this was anything other than a joke… and in that case, unable to believe Tseng just told one.

"Well, not entirely. The three who were fighting you on the platform somehow escaped in time. They must have used a support cable to swing to safety before the plate collapsed. Any other person involved in the terrorist group… wouldn't have been as lucky."

"How do you know this?" Reno asked.

"That is of no importance. What is important is that we three are the only people who know of this. I haven't yet informed any of our superiors."

Reno couldn't quite catch on to what Tseng was trying to say. "Where are they now?" he asked.

"Cloud Strife, Barret Wallace, and Tifa Lockhart are currently climbing rubble that spilled over to Wall Market. In short time they will no doubt be atop the plate and on their way here.

"Our orders are to find and terminate Don Corneo. His foolishness and cowardice is the reason AVALANCHE was present at the top of the pillar and why you, Reno, are hospitalized. I do not intend, however, to inform anyone of their approach, unless they ask. They won't, though. Consider this our compensation for what we did today. We'll give them a head start at well-deserved revenge.

"Once they make it in the building it won't be long before someone notices, and then I imagine you," he gestured toward Rude, "and I will be assigned to… deal with them. I will be in my office until then, attempting to locate our friend, Corneo. Get well soon, Reno." He turned and swept back out, just as suddenly as he'd come in. Reno exchanged looks with his friend for a moment, and then laid his head back on his pillow, exhausted. Just when he thought he was starting to understand Tseng, he did something unpredictable. He was always unpredictable.

* * *

Reeve had spent two hours up in his office, brooding, when he was summoned to a board meeting. He hated having meetings this late in the evening, but then again, right now he hated everything. The boardroom was only one floor up, so he took his time in getting there, but as he opened the double doors, he found he was the only one there aside from the president.

"Good to see you Reeve, good to see you," said the portly man in the bright red suit. "Everyone else should be here shortly, please, have a seat." Reeve took his seat without a word, and opened his briefcase, looking through a few files and reports before the door opened again. This time, it was Scarlet who sauntered in, with Heidegger and Palmer close behind her. Heidegger and Scarlet seemed to be in the middle of a conversation, paying no attention to Palmer. A few minutes later, Hojo crept in quietly, looking seedier than ever. After a few minutes, the president cleared his throat, and everyone took their seats, ready for the board meeting to begin.

"Good evening everyone," said the president, and all the executives muttered similar greeting back. "This will be a short meeting tonight. I would just like to inform you all, officially, that Sector 7 has been destroyed successfully, and AVALANCHE has been wiped out. It is unfortunate, that innocents may have been lost, but the end justifies the means, my friends. But more importantly than that, the Turks have also succeeded tonight in locating and retrieving the last remaining Ancient. Professor Hojo will fill is in shortly on the progress of his research thus far.

"As you all know, my son will be arriving here tonight at approximately midnight, and I want you all to know that you are all welcome to come up to my office to await his arrival shortly beforehand. I'm sure he'll be pleased to see you all. I don't wish to trouble him tonight, however, and so he shall be brought up to date in the morning. Hojo, you may see that he receives a copy of your report on the Ancient, and Reeve, you may fill him in on the plate situation." He broke here, permitting either of them to speak up. Hojo remained silent, and so Reeve took the opportunity to detail the president on the thing he knew the president would care most about.

"We have the damage estimates for Sector 7. Considering those factories we already set up and all the investments, the damage cost estimated to rebuild Sector 7 is…"

"We're not rebuilding," the president interrupted.

"What?"

"We're leaving Sector 7 the way it is, and restarting the Neo-Midgar plan." Reeve remembered what this plan was. The Neo-Midgar plan, introduced by Hojo some time ago, was the theory that if there was a place on the planet that was flooded with Mako energy, Midgar could be rebuilt there without the need for reactors to process the Mako, as it would be in the air and all around, powering everything without the need for cables and generators. This supposed place, known as the Promised Land, was supposedly only able to be found by an Ancient, according to myth. It was common knowledge that Hojo was deeply interested in this sort of thing, as most of his research and experimentation somehow related back to the Ancients.

"…then the ancients?" Reeve queried, unsure what this sudden news meant.

"The Promised Land will soon be ours," said the president. "I want you to raise the Mako rates 15 in every area."

Palmer piped in, excitedly, "Rate hike! Rate hike! Tra la la!" He sang, and then added in plight, "And please include our space program in the budget!"

"Reeve and Scarlet will divide the extra income from the rate increase," said the president bluntly.

"Oh man!" whined Palmer.

"Sir," Reeve protested, "If you raise the rates, the people will lose confidence…"

"It'll be alright. The ignorant citizens won't lose confidence, they'll trust Shinra even more," explained the president, slightly annoyed at Reeve's protests.

Heidegger now laughed, "Ha ha ha! After all, we're the ones who saved Sector 7 from AVALANCHE!" No one seemed to acknowledge Heidegger's disgusting lie about what had been done. The air vent above the room seemed to make a funny noise for a moment, and then the president changed the subject, addressing Hojo.

"Hojo," he asked, "How's the girl?"

"As a specimen, she is inferior to her mother," droned Hojo, his voice quiet and uncaring. "I'm still in the process of comparing her to her mother, Ifalna, but for now the difference is 18."

"How long will the research take?" asked President Shinra.

"Probably 120 years. It's probably impossible to finish in our lifetime, or in the lifetime of the specimen, for that matter. That's why we're thinking of breeding her. Then we could create one that could withstand our research for a long time." He seemed to get excited, if Hojo could get excited, over the thought of breeding the Ancient. Reeve noted this, and reminded himself how much he didn't like the man.

"What about the Promised Land? Won't it hinder our plans?"

"That's what I need to plan. The mother is strong… and yet has her weaknesses."

Everyone thought silently to themselves for a few moments, the only movement coming from the slight fidgeting of Palmer. After giving everyone a moment to take everything in, the president spoke up one last time.

"That concludes our meeting." Everyone packed up their briefcases and got to their feet, eager to leave for the night. Reeve wondered if anyone would be upstairs at midnight to receive Rufus. He himself probably would have, he thought to himself as he left the room and headed toward the stairs, if it weren't for the fact that he'd left the meeting feeling even worse than he had before. This had to have been the worst day of his career.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter III

It appeared that AVALANCHE had made their way in a lot quicker than Tseng had predicted. Shortly after the executive board meeting, they had made their way up to the 68th floor, and interrupted one of Hojo's experiments. In the ensuing chaos, one of Hojo's samples had been destroyed, and another had broken loose and joined with AVALANCHE, apparently having the same level of intelligence as a human. They managed to rescue the Ancient, but only made it as far as the elevators two floors below before Rude, a small group of soldiers, and himself had cornered them and captured them. They had been taken up to the top floor for a short period so the president could address them personally, and now they were all locked in cells on the 67th floor.

Now, Tseng was on his way back to the hospital wing. He figured Reno would like to know about the recent events. Rude was currently busy seeing to the locking up of AVALANCHE, and thus, Tseng would be the only one free to tell Reno. The elevator door opened and he entered upon the medical floor, floor 43. He followed a few corridors toward Reno's private room, and soon entered. Reno was asleep. That wasn't surprising at all, especially since Tseng soon found the empty bottle of rum on the floor that had slipped from Reno's hand. He wouldn't bother with Reno now. On the off chance he could be woken, Tseng doubted Reno would retain anything he told him in his current state.

It was when he turned to leave the room when the lights went out. A second later, red lights started flashing. This was a critical alarm, meaning something serious was happening. AVALANCHE must have broken loose somehow. Tseng was already at the elevator, heading back up to the 66th floor when all the employees still working took off toward the exit stairs. Moments later, the doors opened and Tseng sprinted down the hall and up the stairs to the floor AVALANCHE was supposed to be being held on. When he arrived, he found the entire floor dead quiet. Blood had been splattered on the floor, leaving a long trail from the cells to the specimen elevator. Tseng checked the cells quickly to learn that, contrary to his suspicions, every member of AVALANCHE was still in there, and they were all asleep. The trail of blood ended with Cloud's cell, but it didn't appear to go inside. He left Cloud alone, not wanting to fall into a trap, and followed the trail to the other end. It ended at the holding cell of Jenova. Jenova was a long-deceased Ancient that Hojo kept for his own reasons. Supposedly, it had something to do with Sephiroth. Sephiroth was a legendary first class SOLDIER who had disappeared five years earlier on a mission to Nibelheim, and was supposedly dead. This was the only piece of information in the history of Shinra that Tseng did not know anything about, a fact that drove him crazy.

Jenova was missing. Whatever had happened here, Tseng didn't like it. Jenova was missing, and AVALANCHE didn't appear to have anything to do with it. Checking the time, Tseng realized it was nearly midnight, and Rufus would be arriving. He decided he would head to the top floor and see the president. Maybe he could shed some light on what was happening. Tseng took the nearby elevator up one floor, and then sprinted across the large lab room where AVALANCHE had fought Hojo's experiment, and ascended the staircase up to the president's reception area, still following the trail of blood. Finally making it up the last staircase to the top floor, Tseng witnessed a horrific event before his eyes.

Palmer was cowering in the corner, apparently the only executive who had made an effort to see Rufus. President Shinra was standing tall behind his desk, trying not to look too shaken by the man before him, but Tseng could read the fear in his eyes. Sephiroth stood between he and the president, and he held his long masamune blade out, pointed directly at the president's chest.

"This planet is but a hollow shell, drained of its energy. I will restore it, and with Mother I will find the Promised Land. One step at a time I will do this. The first step to restoring the planet… is by ridding it of you."

"Now Sephiroth…" the president said, trying his best to sound in control of the situation, "I'm sure whatever you have in mind we can work out between us. I thought you were dead all this time… I'm truly enthusiastic to see you are not. You see, there's this terrorist group that I've been having trouble with. If you could maybe… help us with that problem, Shinra Incorporated would be glad to help you with anything you need."

"I am beyond the need for such trifles as favors. Your help is the last thing I need. You cannot talk your way out of this, Mr. President. It would be best if you accepted your fate, it would be most painless that way." Sephiroth advanced on the president. Tseng didn't want to, he even thought the president would deserve this, but it was his job to protect him. Silently running up behind the ex-SOLDIER, Tseng unsheathed a small tanto from behind a scabbard on his belt, and thrust it in a stabbing motion straight into Sephiroth's kidney.

The motion was quicker than Tseng could process. Sephiroth whirled around, slamming his blade into Tseng's so hard it was wrenched from his grip and flew across the room toward Palmer. Before Tseng could look, he dove backward, narrowly avoiding a second swipe from Sephiroth, who then let his masamune go, sending it straight through the president's chest, before vanishing completely from sight, leaving Tseng breath taken and confused on the floor.

He got to his feet, regaining his senses. Looking around, he found the trail of blood ended before the president's desk, and the masamune impaled through the late president's body. Looking to his right, Tseng saw his own blade sticking out of the wall, where Palmer's head had been moments before. Clearly Palmer had been able to duck out of the way in time, but Tseng didn't know where he'd run off to. Claiming his blade and sheathing it, he suddenly heard Rude's voice in his ear. It was his radio.

"Tseng, what's the situation?"

"Rude, you won't believe this… Sephiroth is here… or was. He disappeared. I'm not sure how to explain it, perhaps he has an Exit materia… but he's left his sword behind… that doesn't make sense. Rude, I need a chopper up here stat. Rufus will be here any second and I need to get him out of here safely. Rude… Rufus is the new president of Shinra… his father… Sephiroth killed his father."

"I copy," was Rude's only reply, but Tseng could tell that Rude was just as shocked, if not more so than he was. Suddenly, Tseng heard footsteps coming up the stairs behind him, and the booming voice of Mr. Wallace. Tseng darted out the glass doors that led to the roof heliport before they could reach the top of the stairs and find him.

* * *

Rufus Shinra stood tall in the breeze that swept past the open door of his helicopter, letting his blond hair and long, white coat blow in the wind. He wasn't quite sure how he felt about returning to Midgar. He hated the filthy city, but Junon had started to take its toll on him as well… it hadn't been much better. To him, it was a simple matter of moving from shithole to shithole. The only consolation he felt as the helicopter began setting down was that he wouldn't have to face a large welcome home party… at least, not until the next morning. He hoped he wouldn't have to see his father for very long. His father had never cared for Rufus directly, but only for the continuation of his legacy.

As the helicopter set down, Rufus stepped out into the chilly night and immediately knew something was wrong. Tseng was walking determinedly toward him looking rather shaken. Tseng, the last person he would have expected to greet him, and even less the person he had expected to see shaken. Rufus' helicopter took off again, and flew down to the level 35 heliport to park when Tseng reached him, immediately breaking into words that caught Rufus off guard at first, but slowly hit him harder and harder as he went on.

"Good evening, Mr. President," said Tseng, "I hate for you to find out like this, but your father was… murdered moments ago by Sephiroth. It appears Sephiroth isn't dead as we'd all presumed, and now he intends to find the Promised Land without the aid of Shinra. This makes you president now, and it is my priority to keep you safe. Rude should be here within seconds bringing a chopper. You must be removed from the premises as Sephiroth is still at large, and AVALANCHE, the terrorist group is right there in the office as well. It would be best if we escaped before they even knew you had set foot on the ground…"

He trailed off, although Rufus was finding it hard to concentrate anyways as the truth sunk in. Sure his father had never paid him any attention, and had thrust the title of vice-president on him and shipped him off to Junon without giving Rufus much of a choice, but he was still his father. The sounds of the chopper brought Rufus back to his senses and Palmer was running out of his father's… his office right past him. He dove into the chopper before Rufus could even ask what was happening, and Tseng said something to him about getting on as well, but he wasn't paying attention. AVALANCHE had followed the head of Space Exploration outside. Finally grasping on to an emotion, fury, Rufus decided then and there that someone would pay for the night's events. That someone was AVALANCHE.

"Tseng," he muttered, "Get in the helicopter. I wish to exchange a few words with these terrorists before we depart."

"I'd have to advise against that, sir. It is unwise under present conditions," protested Tseng.

"That's an order," He replied, and Tseng said no more. He stepped onto the helicopter, and said something to Rude that caused him to lift off, although they still circled overhead, prepared to pick up Rufus at a moment's notice. He reached inside his coat, making sure his shotgun was still in place, and waited for AVALANCHE to catch up to him.

"So… so Sephiroth was actually here," said Rufus. "By the way, who are you guys?"

"I'm Cloud, former SOLDIER first class," said the man with spiky blond hair.

"I'm from AVALANCHE," said the tall black man, whom Rufus deduced was Barret.

"Same here!" Confirmed a busty brunette in a black skirt.

"…a flower girl from the slums," said the other brunette in a pink dress.

"A research specimen…" said a red, lupine creature surprisingly. Rufus would have not expected the thing capable of speech by merely looking at hit.

"Well what a crew," said Rufus coolly. "I'm Rufus, president of Shin-Ra, Inc."

"You only president cause yer old man died!" spat Barret, wielding a menacing looking arm-graft.

"That's right. I'll let you hear my new appointment speech. ...Old man tried to control the world with money. It seems to have been working. The population thought that Shin-Ra would protect them. Work at Shin-Ra, get your pay. If a terrorist attacks, the Shin-Ra army will help you. It looks perfect on the outside. But, I do things differently. I'll control the world with fear. It takes too much to do it like my old man. A little fear will control the minds of the common people. There's no reason to waste money on them," he finished his speech by combing his hand through his hair and turning back to face them, as he had been pacing.

"He likes to make speeches just like his father," said the brunette in the skirt. Cloud turned to Barret and gave him an order.

"Get outta this building with Aerith!"

"What?" asked Barret.

"I'll explain later! Barret! This is the real crisis for the Planet!

"The hell's that supposed to mean?"

"I'll tell you later! Just take my word for it now! I'll go after I take care of him!"

"Awright, Cloud!" Barret, Aerith, the red creature, and the busty brunette all left, heading back inside the building, leaving Cloud alone with Rufus. Rufus slid his hand inside of his coat, gripping the handle of his shotgun as he questioned Cloud further.

"Why do you want to fight me?

He answered, "You seek the Promised Land and Sephiroth."

"Exactly. Did you know that Sephiroth is an Ancient?"

"...A lot has happened. Anyway, I can't let either you or Sephiroth have the Promised Land!"

"I see. I guess this means we won't become friends…" Before Cloud could say anything back, Rufus drew his shotgun and fired at Cloud. Bullets sprayed at Cloud, and though he managed to draw and swing his sword, he couldn't possibly deflect the entire shell. A few bullets connected with him, but his thick SOLDIER armor absorbed most of the damage. Cloud shook off the blast and charged forward, swinging fast. He wasn't fast enough. Rufus pumped and fired, this time knocking Cloud to the ground. Rufus pumped again and aimed downward at Cloud, ready to perform his coup de grace. Cloud raised his arm however, and Rufus took this as a plea. He laughed to himself, but it was a laugh he should not have done. Cloud was in fact casting a spell on him and said the incantation during Rufus' moment of humor. Rufus fell backwards, as his body was wracked with electricity.

He stumbled back, and his grip loosened. The shotgun almost fell from his hands, but he managed to grasp on to it at the last second. When his vision returned, he saw Cloud looming over him, swiping downward with his sword. Rufus rolled to the side a bit too late, catching the blade across his shoulder. He felt the blood start to trickle down onto his chest, feeling hot compared to the cool night air. Rufus rolled to his feet and fired another shot at Cloud, who dodged to the side and charged again. Rufus pumped and took sight again. This time however, Cloud sliced the barrel of the shotgun clean off, and brought the blade back down, narrowly missing Rufus as he dodged.

Rufus was now cornered, and feared he would meet the same fate as his father, when the helicopter swooped down, and a panther-like creature dove out, tackling Cloud as it sparked with electricity. Rufus thought it must have been one of Hojo's creations, but instead of stand around musing, he took the opportunity to grab onto the helicopter, as it lifted off. "That's all for today," he told Cloud as the helicopter flew away. Rufus watched Cloud defend himself against the beast for a few moments before it was easily slain, and then Cloud ran back inside. Then, Rufus was flown too far from the tower to see anything that happened. He could see though, that all the lights were turned out.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter IV

Sephiroth must have vacated the building entirely some time before AVALANCHE had. Sephiroth had apparently made his way down the tower, level by level, killing anyone who had gotten in his way. Fortunately, the death toll wasn't too high, as most of the employees had gotten out when the alarm sounded, but there were still losses. AVALANCHE had escaped as well, in a dramatic highway chase on a stolen truck and motorcycle. Both AVALANCHE and Sephiroth were most likely outside of Midgar's city walls.

Reeve sat in his office again, looking at the mound of paperwork before him. Struggling to decide whether he was grateful or not for being asleep in his apartment when Sephiroth had broken into the building. It was the morning after, and the entire building was constantly on the go running from office to office because of the night before. The Turks had immediately been sent out to tail Sephiroth, find him, and eliminate him. Heidegger had apparently hired a woman named Elena to join their ranks as well, as Reno was currently still hospitalized. As soon as he had arrived in his office, he had found a memo calling a board meeting. The new president, Rufus, looked as if he hadn't gotten an ounce of sleep, and demanded as many details of the previous day as he could get. Palmer had apparently seen the murder of his father, as he was the only executive who had made an effort to see Rufus upon his arrival. Reeve was a bit glad he hadn't attempted to see Rufus, as he seemed to be even colder than he had remembered him. Junon had a draining effect on you if you stayed there too long, mused Reeve, but then again… maybe it was just the death of his father that had been bothering him.

At any rate, the meeting had been brief, as Scarlet had nothing to say, and it was mainly Palmer and Rufus who had spoken. Reeve had made a few comments, but it was Hojo who had seemed obsessed with the topic of Sephiroth and Jenova. Heidegger was absent due to the recruitment of Elena, and the briefing of her, Tseng, and Rude. Reno sat in for Heidegger, looking miserable, and uncharacteristically silent throughout the entire meeting. Now Reeve sat in his office, unable to focus on any of the paperwork that lay before him. He had thought that things couldn't have gotten any worse after the destruction of the plate. Fate seemed to slap him in the face for thinking this, as things had clearly gotten worse. He sighed as his door opened and a strange looking cat that sat atop a moogle waltzed in. The cat was holding a mug of coffee, and placed it enthusiastically on Reeve's desk, before asking him "Good morning, how are you?"

"Miserable," muttered Reeve. The cat frowned, while the moogle remained emotionless, as it should. These were Cait Sith and Mog robots, respectively. There were only a few in existence, and they were designed by Reeve's department. The Cait Sith doll was capable of speech, and the highest artificial intelligence available, making it impossible to identify as not being alive. It was equipped with an internal radio so that orders could be given to it from miles away, and inaudible to all but the cat. Also, a person could see through the robot's eyes with the use of a special pair of sunglasses or contact lenses.

The Mog robot was less advanced. Where the cat was designed for special espionage missions when the Turks were unavailable, or simple entertainment, the moogle was used for heavy maintenance work, as its strength was equal to four times a normal human. The Mog was supposedly indecipherable when compared to a live, uneducated giant moogle, however, Reeve doubted this claim. Capable only of saying "Kupo" when it understood its orders, which must be spoken aloud to it, Reeve was less satisfied with the results of it. However, this didn't stop him from using a pair of them for his own purposes.

"I'm sorry to hear that, sir," said Cait Sith, followed by a deep "Kupo!" from its counterpart.

"That's alright," Reeve replied, waving off his robotic secretary, "Thank you for the coffee. If I need you I'll call."

"Yes sir," it complied as they turned to leave.

"Kupo!"

* * *

Elena sat in the back of the helicopter quietly, straightening her new black suit and adjusting her tie. She had just been assigned to the Turks earlier that day after the chaos of the day before. She was very enthusiastic about her new position, and had been working her way there for some time. She was also a bit worried that she'd screw up. She had had the proper training and knew how to handle firearms, but she'd never actually used them on live targets. To top that off, her two partners, Tseng and Rude, were extremely intimidating. Rude was huge and quiet, and she had found herself slightly taken with Tseng since they had first met a year ago. She was worried about messing up in front of him, as childish as it sounded.

She inspected her firearm once more to distract herself from anxiety. She had a full 12 bullets in her state-of-the-art revolver, with its name, Outsider, etched into the handle. Elena knew quite a bit about guns, having done a lot of research on them while being on the "waiting list" for the Turks. This was the best revolver out there, not even available in shops, although mostly rifles were sold around the world and the Outsider had little competition. She had 3 spare speed loaders in a pouch on her belt as well as half of a dozen grenades. Grenades weren't standard issue to the Turks, but she wasn't breaking any protocol by taking them either.

Sliding her gun back into its holster located inside of her coat strapped over her left breast, she gazed in the direction of Tseng and Rude. Tseng seemed to be engaged in a conversation with someone via PHS, although she couldn't make out the conversation over the roar of the helicopter blades. Rude had taken his hands away from the controls briefly to slide on a pair of Work Gloves and then turn the helicopter slightly downward and to the left. They were about to land. Kalm was the closest town to Midgar that wasn't under Shin-Ra control, and if Sephiroth was to get any rest between escaping Midgar and braving through the southern Zolom Marshes and Mythril Mine, which would take some time to reach, and even then it would still be a long walk to Fort Condor, the small village that lay nearest the other side of the mines. The only other possible place for Sephiroth to rest at between Midgar and the marshes was a small town called Healin, which was in the middle of nowhere. The chances of this happening were very low.

As the helicopter started its landing, Elena finally had herself calm and confident. She could do this, she knew, because she was chosen for it. If she wasn't Turk material, she wouldn't be a Turk. It was as simple as that. Stepping out of the helicopter, she had to hold her hair in place against the heavy wind created under the slowing blades. She followed Tseng away from the helicopter and into town while Rude secured it.

"Tell me, Elena. Do you know how to use materia?" asked Tseng casually while still sounding no-nonsense.

"Sort of. I mean I've read guides about how to use it, absorbing it into my weapon or armor and then concentrating on the spell I want to cast, but what exactly is it? How is it made?" She replied, trying not to sound like she was asking a dumb question. Tseng replied firmly and informed her.

"When you condense Mako energy, materia is produced. The knowledge and wisdom of the Ancients is held in the materia. Anyone with this knowledge can freely use the powers of the Land and the Planet. That knowledge interacts between ourselves and the planet calling up magic." When Elena looked blankly at him, he added, "Basically it's a means of summoning magic from the Planet and using it." She nodded, now more understanding as they approached Kalm Inn, with Rude now following closely behind them.

The three Turks checked into the hotel, for free, and proceeded up to a room on the second floor. Once there, Elena sat on the bed watching as Rude closed and locked the door, and made sure there was no way they would be overheard. Once he was done with that, he turned to Tseng who had been standing by the window in the corner of the room looking outside.

"So what have you found out, Tseng? Anything about Sephiroth's return?" asked Rude, still standing by the door.

Tseng turned around and faced his partners before responding, "Yes. Sephiroth may not have been as dead as our superiors would like us to suspect. As it turns out, there's no official report on him ever dying. Official Shin-Ra records say that he was last seen on November 13th, seven years ago in Nibelheim on a mission to their reactor. Supposedly, there was something wrong there and monsters were escaping into the wild… particularly a blue dragon.

"Anyways, Sephiroth and another SOLDIER named Zack were accompanied to the reactor by two ordinary troopers. Sephiroth himself filed a report that one of the two troopers was lost in an accident three days before his own disappearance, and was presumed dead, and the other trooper was lost in the fire that destroyed the entire town except for Shin-Ra mansion. His body was recovered and identified."

"What? When did Nibelheim burn down?" Elena interrupted, then feeling a bit embarrassed about it. Tseng however, didn't seem to mind.

"It was quickly covered up by Shin-Ra by rebuilding the town exactly as it had been. Only the most important people of the business remember it, as well as the sole survivor of it, which is our Tifa Lockhart, member of AVALANCHE. She was Sephiroth's guide through the mountains, and somehow escaped from the town days later, unscarred. Though we haven't had any problems with her going public about the fire, Shin-Ra executives would have you assume that all of AVALANCHE is well aware. However, I think otherwise and say that she hasn't told anyone.

"As for Zack, he also disappeared at the same time as Sephiroth, but then resurfaced five years ago on the outskirts of Midgar, shot to death. There are no records as to who shot him, or that anyone was ever even persecuted for it. As you will now realize, it is only the body of Sephiroth that was never found. This is why I believe him to have never died. I haven't ever seen the records kept in the Shin-Ra mansion in Nibelheim, but I'm willing to bet he found something in there he didn't like that turned him against Shin-Ra. And judging from the fact that Hojo now has official ownership of said records, I wouldn't be surprised if the records contained experiments involving the end of the world."

"So then where has Sephiroth been for these past seven years?" asked Rude.

"I have no idea," replied Tseng. "But I'm more interested in where he's going now… In truth, I don't think Sephiroth is in this town at all."

"So then why are we here? Shouldn't we be after him?" asked Elena.

"In time. But we do have some business here. Elena, will you toss me your sidearm?" Elena looked confused, but complied. She drew her Outsider and approached Tseng, handing it to him. He gave her a slight nod in appreciation, before suddenly aiming at the wall adjacent to the window and firing. Just as suddenly, a man cried out in pain from the next room and Tseng gestured for Rude to quickly go inspect, before he handed the gun back to Elena and following behind Rude. Elena put her gun away and cautiously followed as well, not knowing what to expect. She mused that this was an interesting first day on the job indeed.

Elena entered the next room to find Rude holding a man up against a wall. The man looked very, almost like a slum dweller, and was bleeding from the shoulder, where he had been shot. Tseng stood next to Rude, interrogating him.

"Scotch, is it? Horrible eavesdropper. I've known you were listening in almost since I first entered our room. So where's your boss at these days? You know, the Don's a wanted man. If you were to give us some information on his whereabouts, we might be able to arrange to… not kill you." Scotch coughed up a bit of blood, and struggling against Rude's grip a little, he replied with great effort.

"I don't know where he is, I swear. He just told me he was heading west and told me to stay here in case any Shin-Ra stopped by. Then he'd send someone every few days to retrieve information. That's all I know!" Tseng thought for a moment before responding to him.

"Alright, thanks. Don Corneo was last seen heading east, unfortunately for you. We already have this information. If there's anything a Turk hates the most it's a liar. Elena, kill him."

"What!" she exclaimed surprised at the same time that Scotch wailed in fear. She knew it was part of the job, but it was her first day.

"He's a liar, criminal, and probably killed more people already than you're going to. Plus… it's mandatory for a sort of Turks initiation." Elena, still in shock, removed her Outsider from its holster once more, and with a shaky hand, aimed at the terrified double-crosser's heart. The pounding of her own heart in her chest against the screaming and kicking of Scotch was enough to give her a headache and cause her to sweat. She blinked and swallowed, and then after receiving a sympathetic nod from Tseng, she fired.

* * *

Rude had been in the Turks for almost as long as Tseng, but was still the oldest member. Rude was 29, but had been bald for years now. He was known for being extremely quiet while still being extremely intimidating. He was well over six feet tall, and always wore his sunglasses. However, this "muscle" persona that he was associated with didn't stop him from dressing appropriately, he mused as he straightened and zipped his black tie and coat. They were now leaving the inn and returning to the helicopter because, according to Tseng, "their neighbors would unleash an avalanche on them if they stuck around too long." Rude understood this far too well, having worked with Tseng for so long. Obviously, Tseng worded it this way because he didn't want Elena, still recovering, to be aware of AVALANCHE's close proximity.

In private, Tseng had told Rude that Sephiroth was headed west, and probably going to attempt to cross the ocean and return to Nibelheim. Rude and Tseng knew all along that Sephiroth hadn't stopped in Kalm. In fact, Tseng didn't think he was going to stop anywhere. Heidegger was working like a maniac trying to organize a parade at the Junon base for the inauguration of President Rufus. In fact, this would just be a ploy to have top-notch security there to make it impossible for Sephiroth to stow away on a ship. This parade was scheduled to happen in only a few days, and no ships would leave the harbor until then. In fact, the Turks weren't supposed to be tailing Sephiroth at all. He would be confronted at Junon. They had only come to Kalm to deal with Corneo's lackey, and for the rest of the day would just be monitoring AVALANCHE's progress. Rufus didn't want them dead, because they may be able to help against Sephiroth, and so the Turks were just supposed to keep their eyes on them. They had spent the night in Kalm, and so would probably be leaving soon in order to keep moving. Tseng wanted to leave Kalm before them, and keeping that in mind, Rude started the chopper up again and lifted off a few minutes later, leaving Tseng to the task of consoling Elena.

It didn't take long for them to reach the Mythril Mines, as flying over the marshes was much easier than walking through them, mainly due to the gigantic Midgar Zoloms, which were typically around 30 feet in length. Snakelike creatures, they were extremely dangerous too anyone who wasn't a professionally trained fighter, as not only were they fast and powerful, but they had a magical ability to summon a blanket of fire from the Planet and coat their enemies in it. Knowing this, it was understandable that Rude was extremely surprised when he saw one of them impaled on a tree outside the mine entrance.

After setting down the chopper behind some boulders, The Turks got off to inspect the murdered creature. "He's moving faster than I suspected. At this rate Sephiroth could arrive in Junon by late tomorrow. I hope he won't cause too much damage there before the parade," said Tseng.

"How could he have done this?" asked Elena, staring in awe at the skewered Zolom.

"He's Sephiroth… Come on, we'll search the mines for him. Split up to cover more ground, we all have our PHS's on right? If you find him… do not engage, just contact the other two of us and we'll meet back here." Rude noted the scared look Elena held in her eyes, but wrote it off as rookie inexperience. She was a Turk now, and so Rude knew she'd be able to handle herself. He was the last to enter the mines, and they quickly broke off into different directions to search the mines.

After a few short hours of searching to no avail, Rude got a call from Tseng, saying they were to give up and head back to the chopper and head for Junon. Tseng would stay behind to tail AVALANCHE there when they showed up. Rude made his way back toward the exit. When he reached the cave where he had split up with his two partners however, he was a bit surprised to find he was not alone.

Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, Barret, and the specimen known as Red XIII were making their way through the mines toward the exit on the Junon side. As they were between him and his destination, he made his presence known.

"Just a second!" He said, and they all quickly turned toward him, drawing their weapons. Rude however, was up on a ledge and safe from any sudden attack.

"Who are you?" asked Tifa, standing on guard in a martial arts stance Rude was not familiar with.

Rude responded with another question, "Do you know who I am?"

"From the Turks, right?" asked Cloud this time, although it was more of a statement.

"Well if you know, then this won't take long. It's difficult to explain what the Turks do..."

"Kidnapping, right?" asked Cloud, this time even more sure of himself.

"To put it negatively... you could say that. ...But, that's not all there is to it, anymore…" At this point, Elena had made her way into the room, on a high ledge overlooking everyone.

"Sir! It's all right, Rude! I know you don't like speeches, so don't force it!" she exclaimed to him, willing to wake over. Tseng hadn't wanted her to have to deal with AVALANCHE already… but Rude wanted to hear what she would say, so he let her.

"...Then Elena, explain," he said.

"I'm the newest member of the Turks, Elena," she explained. "Thanks to what you did to Reno, we're short of people. ...Although, because of that, I got promoted to the

Turks... In any case, our job is to find out where Sephiroth is headed… and to try and stop you every step of the way. Wait a minute; it's the other way around... You're the ones that are getting in our way." Now Tseng had come into the cave, from the third alcove in the cave on the other side of AVALANCHE.

"...Elena. You talk too much," he said bluntly.

Elena apologized, "Sorry... Tseng.

"No need to tell them about our orders," replied Tseng quickly. "Now go. Don't forget to file your report." Elena was now blushing and stammering, clearly nervous.

"Oh! Right! Very well, Rude and I will go after Sephiroth, who's heading for Junon Harbor!"

"...Elena. You don't seem to understand," snapped Tseng, now annoyed.

"Oh! I'm, I'm sorry..." she trailed off, now obviously embarrassed.

"...Go. Don't let Sephiroth get away."

"Yes sir!" said both Elena and he. They made their way around the group toward the exit, but before Rude left, he turned back to the group.

"...Reno said he wanted to see you after the injuries you gave him healed. He wants to show his affection for you all," he said, and then followed Elena back out to the helicopter. A few minutes later, they were in the air again and headed for Junon.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter V

The streets of Upper Junon were almost as dirty as Midgar's slums, but apart from that, the structure was very much like the upper plate. The air was always dry there though, and the smell of sea salt was everywhere. It was also a very hot place, as there were huge backup generators everywhere. Unlike Midgar, Junon only had one Mako reactor, which was underwater. Its energy traveled to each of the generators where it could be additionally charged and then sent out all over the city. Lower Junon was almost as bad as Midgar's slums. Upper Junon was the military base of Shin-Ra and had been built out of a cliff that overlooked Lower Junon, and as a result, Lower Junon was always in shadow, resting under the base. It was a famous fishing town before the base had been built and to this day remains a fishing town, although not quite as popular anymore.

Reno was walking again, and wasn't wearing any bandages except for the ones under his collared shirt which covered his stitches. Although he was on medical leave, he was still at Junon with the rest of Shin-Ra. He was really sore, but otherwise fully-functioning. Plus he had his trusty EMR strapped onto his belt. If there should there be any trouble he knew he could effortlessly put it down.

He sat at the bar of the Turks' personal club downing the last bit of rum from his fourth bottle, working on a heavy buzz. He sat between Elena and Rude, though Elena wasn't drinking. He turned to Rude, who sat on his other side sipping a beer, and asked him a question in a drawling voice.

"Hey, what do you think of that new Elena girl? Good looking, huh? You need a girl to help you relax, man."

"I'm sitting right here, Reno!" exclaimed Elena. "I didn't even think you were that drunk!"

"I'm not," he replied, turning to face her, his long red ponytail whipping around and almost hitting her. "But I was asking Rude. I didn't think you'd mind me asking, but if you're gonna take it personally, then nevermind. Anyways, I don't mind saying that you're easy on the eyes. Shit, I just been out of work too long. When's this damn parade anyways?"

"Tomorrow at noon," Rude replied after swallowing some of his drink.

"Alright then, if I get plastered now then I should be fine by then. I have to look my best for TV, yo."

"Does that mean you'll tuck your shirt in?" asked Elena, still a bit annoyed.

"Hell no. Besides, I don't need… why do I feel like I'm explaining this all the time? I look good, that's all that matters, Elena. I know you're new, but you'll learn the Turk code soon enough." He looked at her quizzical face and went on. "It's nothing written, it's just kind of an unspoken agreement between myself, Tseng, and the big man…" He swiveled back around toward Rude suddenly. "Yo, we playing poker tonight? Chances are I'll be too shitfaced to beat you, what do you say?"

Rude couldn't say anything though, because his PHS went off, and he held his hand to Reno's mouth to silence him as he answered. "Yes… alright… forest directly southeast of here? Okay… Are you still tailing AV… Fort Condor area, alright. Yes, we'll check it out. Bye." He pocketed his PHS and turned Reno and Elena. "Tseng says that he's spotted someone in a nearby forest. He's still got his eye on AVALANCHE and says that they shouldn't be showing up here until early tomorrow. He wants us to check out the forest, because it could be Sephiroth. So Elena, I think it would be best if we went as soon as possible. Now perhaps."

"I'm coming," Reno told him flatly.

"As your partner and best friend I don't think you're ready yet for…"

"Fuck that!" Reno told him. Reno was ready now, and although he was still sore, it wasn't much different than working in a hangover, which he'd done often. He had his armor, weapon, and uniform anyways, plus he was bored. That was all the incentive he needed, and in just those two words, he told it to Rude.

"You've been drinking," protested Elena, but it was no use. He was going, and he knew Rude knew that already, which was why he had stood up to leave.

"That's all the more reason for me to go; I won't feel as much pain. Come on, we have a job to do," he told her and followed his partner out the door, and soon heard the footsteps of Elena behind him too.

The Turks had all split up upon entering the woods, and were going to comb the relatively small forest in their standard fashion. Reno was more than ready to meet up with Sephiroth, and was even hoping he would. He'd been out of action for too long now, and was looking for a good fight, however buzzed and sore he was. He had been looking for about a half an hour when he found a gleaming yellow object lying on the ground on his path. Upon closer inspection, he realized it was a materia. Reno picked it up off the ground, tossed it in the air, and caught it again. With a satisfied smirk, he was about to move on when a blur of motion leapt out from behind some trees, sending Reno onto his back. Before he could even stand up, a large four-point shuriken found its way over him, burying two of its points into the ground on either side of him, trapping his arms down.

Reno looked up at his attacker, going over possible ways to escape when he was suddenly taken aback. Reno found his attacker to be a very attractive, albeit teenage, Wutain girl with short black hair that covered a bandana, and very strange armor that included an arm-sheath. She wore a sleeveless green turtleneck that stopped above her navel, and a pair of unbuttoned tan shorts that were very short in comparison to her long legs.

"…the hell?" was all Reno could sputter out in his shock. Somehow she had managed to get hold of his EMR and was inspecting in for some reason or other. He then realized what she was doing, and couldn't believe he'd fallen for it. She'd set a trap for him with the yellow materia, and when he distracted himself with it, she jumped him, and was now stealing it from him, along with the materia he had had with him. The one problem with this situation, however, was that no one stole from a Turk and survived.

Reno, suddenly filled with alcohol-infused anger, slid out from underneath the shuriken and swept his leg under the girl, tripping her up. She dropped his weapon before managing to remove anything, and Reno caught it before it hit the ground. With a flick of the wrist, it extended to its full length, and he leapt up to his feet. Spinning around, he made to bring down his weapon onto her prone form, but it was only met by the shuriken, which she held out before her as a shield. She rolled backwards onto her feet, and then suddenly back flipped toward a tree, and then kicked off the trunk, diving forward at Reno, swiping the shuriken at him in the process. He barely deflected the blow with his own weapon, but she still managed to turn in the air and kick him square in the chest, knocking him to the ground once again. She used her momentum to rebound off of him, and do another flip in the air and land on her feet a good distance away. While Reno got back up to his feet, she fused the yellow materia he had found into her weapon.

Reno made to charge forward at her, but she suddenly threw the shuriken at him, causing him to stop in his tracks and duck. The shuriken changed directions after and sailed back around right into her hands again. Reno knew that the yellow materia must have been a Throw, which is what enabled a weapon to act like a boomerang such as this one was. He was now too close for her to throw it again, and so she thrust it out in front of her as Reno approached. He was too quick for her this time, however, and managed to jump up and step on her shuriken as she thrust it forward, slamming it to the ground. She took a step back, but Reno thrust his own weapon outward, and sent a burst of electricity through her body, and she fell to the ground.

"So you're some type of ninja, aren't you darling?" he drawled, breathing heavily but still managing to keep an air of sarcasm in his voice.  
"Gave me a run for my money, yo, but I'm a Turk. I'm paid to put down thieves like you.

"I'm far from a thief, asshole, and trust me if you killed me there would be a bounty on your head so large Shin-Ra would discharge you!" she snapped while trying to recover from being electrocuted.

"Yeah right, what are you, princess of Wutai?" he asked sarcastically, but then received a look from her so deadly that he thought he might have guessed correctly. "Wish I had that kind of luck in the casino," he thought to himself, but shook off his arrogance. There was no way the princess of Wutai would be halfway around the world hunting for materia in the middle of a forest. Either way, this moment of doubt removed his killer instinct. Besides, she was damn good-looking, maybe if she was old enough he could get her in bed… then again, he thought, why did she have to be old enough?

"Shut up, Turkey," was all she said through clenched teeth, and when Reno bent down, he didn't even know if it was to help or harm her, she suddenly brought her foot to his bandaged chest and kicked him over her head, and rolling to her feet in the process. He lost grip of his weapon, but managed to grab onto her ankle before she could pick up her own. She tripped again and the two wrestled on the ground with each other as they both struggled to get to their feet.

This went on for minutes before they were both torn apart by strong hands. Reno was about to hit this new person before realizing it was Rude, who threw the girl into a tree and then handed Reno his EMR back. "Thanks, partner," he muttered to Rude while shaking his hair out of his face and pushing his sunglasses back up onto his forehead. "Chick's got spunk to match those legs, I'll tell you. Either I'm going to kill her or I'm beginning to like her." She was too busy getting back to her feet to notice what he was saying, and slowly made her way to her weapon before picking it up.

"Come on, partner, let's get out of here," replied Rude. "She must be who Tseng was talking about. Not our concern, let's leave her."

"Yeah…" Reno agreed. Although he was ready to moments ago, he hated killing if he didn't have to… was he actually becoming nothing more than a murderer? They turned to leave before Reno turned back to her. "Heyo, what's your name anyways?"

She looked up at him from examining her wounds, obviously having known the fight was over, and spat "What's it to you?"

"Nothing important, it's just I'm impressed… and I thought might look you up sometime. Anyway, name's Reno."

"Don't count on calling, Reno, I'm unlisted. Besides, I'm not telling you my name anyway, jerk."

"She is Yuffie Kisaragi, daughter of Lord Godo," Rude spoke up. Reno and the girl were both shocked, although she seemed more nervous. Godo was the emperor of Wutai, and if this girl was who Rude said she was, that made her princess.

"Well I hope I never see you again!" shouted the girl suddenly before running off into the woods. Rude would never lie intentionally to Reno, nor would he give him information unless he was 100 percent sure. Judging by her reaction, she in fact was Yuffie Kisaragi, and Reno almost killed her.

* * *

When the last executive filed in and sat down, Rufus finally had no option but to turn his focus to the four people sitting at the table with him. Then he realized he should be looking at five.

"Where's Hojo?" he asked to no one in particular. Since the night his father had been murdered he hadn't really talked to anyone aside from after the first board meeting, and spent most of his time adjusting to the building, the office, and the new position. Then again, he never really talked to anyone anyways if he didn't have to. As it was, Reeve was the only person in the room who was halfway decent in his eyes. Heidegger was a power-hungry bastard who only cared about controlling as much of the Planet as he could, and Scarlet… well, she had probably slept her way to the top, and as for deceit and manipulation she was right up there with Heidegger. As for Palmer, Rufus had a suspicion he was borderline crazy.

"He's been missing," growled Heidegger, opening up a briefcase and taking out some of its contents. "He'll probably show up in a few days with some stupid research info about Sephiroth that won't help us figure out where he is or where he's going… As for Sunday's parade, I'll be happy to…"

"That's fine Heidegger, you can fill me in on the details when the time comes. I trust you know what you're doing," said Rufus lazily. "Are there any updates on AVALANCHE?"

"Yes, Mr. President," replied Scarlet, "They've just left the Fort Condor area. Tseng's tailing them. They will probably arrive in Lower Junon sometime tomorrow."

"Alright, at least that's under control. I want the report on your idea for the Mako canon by tomorrow night, Heidegger, keep up the good work. Reeve… I don't know if we'll get the time to start soon, but I want the damage estimates for Sector 7 when you get the chance, so we can start planning on rebuilding. Anything to add, Palmer?"

"No sir," he said almost glumly.

"Well then that's all. Meeting adjourned." Rufus combed his hand through his hair and swiveled around in his chair while the executives filed out. Rufus sat in his chair for a bit longer thinking. He didn't really know what he was doing amidst this crisis. Sure, he had run things over in Junon for a few years, but everything was relatively peaceful during that time, with the only exception being a number of small gangs. Between AVALANCHE and Sephiroth, Rufus felt like he was running blindly through a maze trying to keep his corporation on top of things, and still maintain the backing of the citizen population. Telling them everything was being handled was one thing, but it was a white lie just to prevent further chaos.

He just hoped that this parade would go off as planned, boosting the population's morale while also cornering Sephiroth. It was a very risky plan, but it was the only one at the moment that didn't involve putting half of the world under martial law. This way, every soldier would be on alert and patrolling without the citizens of Junon noticing anything's wrong.

Rufus sighed as he exited the room and headed towards the elevators to take him back upstairs, passing Reeve's Caith Sith robot along the way. "Good evening Mr. President!" it said in its cheery voice as he passed, but Rufus paid it no attention, preferring to get back up to his office as soon as he could. So many things had gone wrong in his few days here. His father died, Sephiroth returned, AVALANCHE almost sabotaged the entire building, and now Hojo was missing. The atmosphere wasn't as bad with him gone, but it was still an important matter nonetheless. Hojo headed the Jenova project after Professor Gast left, and Sephiroth had taken Jenova's corpse with him. Rufus had more than a feeling these two events were related. If Hojo didn't show up soon, he'd have Heidegger set up a search for him, but only after the parade. Heidegger had enough on his hands as it was. He sat down at his desk once he reached it and stretched his arms, trying to relax. This was not a good time to be the ruler of the world.

* * *

Yuffie Kisaragi had joined the ranks of AVALANCHE shortly after her run in with Reno and Rude. It was funny, thought Tseng, that he had mistaken a spoiled 16 year old princess for the son of an Ancient. However, in light of the recent news that she was halfway around the world from her home country hunting and thieving for materia, his mistake didn't seem as big of a surprise as he initially thought.

However, this now meant that AVALANCHE would definitely have access to much greater resources, as it was no secret that Wutai and the Kisaragi Dynasty were no fans of Shin-Ra, having just lost the war a few years earlier. The result of the war meant that while Wutai would still have full authority and control over its own government and law system, its military would be disbanded and at any given time, Shin-Ra could intercede and overrule any law by placing its own. While Lord Godo had essentially given in to these terms without much argument not wanting to lose any more of his people, Yuffie was just the opposite. It was well-known worldwide that she was against Shin-Ra and thus also against her father. A few 1st class SOLDIERs were actually stationed in the Wutai capital incognito, keeping an extra guard on Godo for the sole reasoning that if Godo were to be assassinated by anti-Shin-Ra terrorists (such as AVALANCHE) then Yuffie would be the one to claim the throne and very likely attempt to start a second war by easily rounding up veterans of the first who were still bitter. However Tseng knew this would be an unlikely scenario because AVALANCHE never lowered themselves to outright direct assassination, even though their actions had inadvertently led to the deaths of masses, if not just as many as the dropping of the plate. Rufus, unfortunately, seemed to be just as short-sighted as his late father though and disagreed with this fact, and so continued to keep the SOLDIERs stationed in Wutai.

Tseng had now deduced that Sephiroth could only have fled to one of three towns on the west side of the mountains. Fort Condor was out of the running due its small size and anti-Shin-Ra activity. This left only Zozo, Balamb, or the most likely candidate, Junon. Reno, Rude, and Elena were all back in the military base on high alert, and would remain there until Tseng joined them after inspecting the other two towns quickly. However, Tseng was fairly certain that he would not find the black caped man anywhere other than Junon, but he didn't want to assume anything and would be checking all possible locations.

Entering Zozo, Tseng decided that he'd be in and out of this town in minutes. It was small, as most non-Shin-Ra controlled towns were, and was actually very run down. Many of the townspeople were criminals in hiding or ex-cons. However, it would be an ideal place for Sephiroth to hide in for a time, or even raise a small army. Tseng knew the town all too well. He had been here many times before, tracking some of the more threatening criminals that had crossed the late President Shinra.

Something was wrong though. Tseng had walked confidently into town under the beaten-down wooden archway that once supported an elaborate sign identifying the town, and knew almost immediately that it was too quiet. Normally you couldn't walk ten feet without someone trying to mug you, or seeing a fight break out, but Tseng couldn't see a single person, living or otherwise, around. Putting on an air of caution, he quickened his pace to a jog and headed straight for the town square.

Ten minutes later, Tseng found the source of the abandonment. In the middle of the square was a burning pile of wood, and littered throughout the area were bodies of the thieves and criminals who lived there. This at least confirmed Tseng's suspicions that Sephiroth would at least have been in Zozo for a brief period. Apparently he decided that it was even too shady of a place for a man like himself though, because whomever wasn't cowering in fear in their houses was dead in the village square. Even if these people had been respectable Tseng wouldn't have had time to shed a tear over theirs deaths though, as this meant that Sephiroth was without a doubt in or near Junon, and Tseng would have to haul ass to get there. He flipped open his PHS to call the other Turks and ran out of town as quickly and discreetly as he'd come in.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter VI

He was back in Junon far sooner than he would have ever liked, but he didn't have much of a choice in the matter. In only a few minutes, the parade would begin, and all of the highest ranking SOLDIERs, the Turks, and a large portion of the military would be on alert for Sephiroth should he make an appearance. As for Rufus himself, he was currently sitting in the back of a truck at the front of the motorcade with Heidegger and three first class SOLDIERs. Rufus knew however, that even these three would be no match for Sephiroth should he make it to Rufus. He hoped that Sephiroth would be taken care of before he even came out in the open streets, although a part of him knew that even the entire Shin-Ra army wouldn't be able to fare against Sephiroth's wrath.

As Rufus' thoughts wandered, so did his eyes. They fell across the empty landing strip for the Shin-Ra air force, and he suddenly realized that it shouldn't be empty. There was supposed to be an enormous airship parked there that was going to fly across the ocean after them and pick up their helicopter from Costa Del Sol, and then bring them back to Midgar less than a day. The airship was called the Highwind, after the man who built it, and was the only one of these gigantic beauties in the world. It could fly across the ocean in hours, and thus was ideal for long distance traveling. The only reason the steamboat was being used was to create a divertive tactic meant to confuse AVALANCHE or anyone else trying to track after the president. It was only natural that after the space program collapsed and Rufus' father laid off Cid Highwind, he bought the airship off of the pilot… although Rufus had a feeling blackmailed would be a more appropriate word than bought. He knew the Highwind was undergoing maintenance, but he had assumed it would be ready by the day of the parade.

"How's the job?" he asked Heidegger, who had been quiet for most of the day. "What happened to the Airship?"

"The long range airship is still being prepared," he replied. "It should be ready in about three more days. Gya haa haa!" It was that annoying laugh that Rufus had always hated. It reminded him of a horse. Heidegger with a horse's head on his shoulders. He ignored it though, and questioned Heidegger about the alternative, which was a jet plane the air force had been developing to match the speed of the Highwind, only this would be much smaller and just as heavily equipped.

"Even the Air Force's Gelnika?"

"……Gya haa haa!" Heidegger continued to laugh. Apparently Rufus' misinformation as to the current situation of the Gelnika was funny.

"Stop that stupid horse laugh," he scolded Heidegger, now too annoyed to ignore the laugh. "Things are different than when father was in charge."

"Gya…" Heidegger bit his tongue and abruptly stopped. Regaining his cool, Rufus continued.

"Is the ship ready?" He already knew the answer to this; he just needed to hear a yes anyways in order to lighten his stress.

"Yes sir, we'll get it ready quickly." Heidegger made a radio call to someone on the ship, but Rufus ignored the conversation. He wasn't too worried about the Highwind either. If it would be ready in three days, it would still have time to fly over and pick them up, as the cruise was a three day trip. Maybe things wouldn't turn out so bad after all…

Rufus snapped out of his thoughts when the trumpets started blasting the parade march. The truck's engine roared to life seconds later and then drove out of the tunnel it sat beneath as the roar of onlookers overwhelmed Rufus' ears.

* * *

Elena hadn't always been a Turk. In fact, there had been a point only a few years earlier when she'd still been in school when she'd despised them. Of course, that was only because her sister had been a Turk. Elena and her sister had always been very competitive, and since she had become a Turk, Elena automatically decided she didn't like them. Then her sister died close to a month ago. Elena never hated her sister, and was truly devastated when she and the majority of the Turks had all been killed in one sweep. This is when Elena had made the decision to follow in her footsteps and honor her memory.

That's how she got here, Junon, sitting in full Turk uniform with a handful of grenades and a fully loaded revolver at the Turks' private bar with Reno and Tseng. This is what she thought about as she watched Reno trying to talk Tseng into a drinking contest. Reno had dated her sister for a brief time, but they had broken up months before she died. Still, she couldn't help but still feel a slight animosity towards Reno. He lived and she died. It's true that it wasn't his fault, but maybe she was just using him as an output for her anger. Elena doubted if Reno even knew that that had been her sister. He was just sitting there, talking with a soldier who had wandered in as Tseng looked on with his dark eyes. This was a man she respected. Tseng was always working, even when he was off-duty. Whatever went on in his mind was a complete mystery, but she had no doubt that he was a genius. Everyone in Shin-Ra had always said he was the best at what he did, and now that she had seen him in action, she had no doubt.

"Well, at least we know AVALANCHE is here," Tseng spoke up abruptly, snapping Elena out of her thoughts. Apparently the soldier had left and Reno was now talking to Tseng.

"What? How do you know?" asked Reno.

"Easy," Tseng replied. "I recognized his voice."

"You mean... that soldier? Shit, I thought there was something funny about him!" Reno leapt up and sprung out his rod so abruptly the bartender dropped the glasses he had been cleaning. Reno made a move toward the door, but Tseng stopped him with his arm.

"No, Reno. Put your desire for payback on hold, I've already developed a plan. Come outside with me, both of you. I have matters of which I would like to discuss… in private." Elena saw him glance briefly toward the bartender, who was busy cleaning up his mess to notice, and the trio took this opportunity to slip outside and double around the corner into an alleyway.

"Sir, what about Rude?" Elena asked in a low voice so that no one passing down the street could hear. "Shouldn't we tell him of the plan?"

"I've already spoken with him. A simple short phone call after I'm through with you will notify him of Mr. Strife's presence, and he will begin his portion of this operation. However, I wouldn't be surprised if he already has an idea of what's going on. You hear a lot when playing cards. It's one of the best ways to gather information nonviolently. Elena, that's a tip from me to you." Elena flushed a bit but nodded affirmatively, before Reno piped up.

"So then what's the deal, yo? Why won't you let me go after Cloud?"

"Our orders are to apprehend Sephiroth, should he make an appearance, keep an eye on AVALANCHE, and above all else, protect the president from harm. Now, directly assaulting AVALANCHE might instigate them to attack any important Shin-Ra exec., especially with a man like Wallace running the show. Cloud's disguise, however, leads me to believe that they might not be planning an attack on Shin-Ra as much as either trying to find Sephiroth, or sneaking aboard the ship to get to the western continent."

"But sir, couldn't that put the president in jeopardy if we allow AVALANCHE to board?"

"Exactly, Elena. However, we have also been instructed to leave them to their own devices until Sephiroth is dealt with, in case we can use them to our advantage in the meantime. I know for a fact Sephiroth is here. A few of our soldiers were found dead this morning, but it's been hushed up so as to not scare anyone, particularly the civilians. I will have Rude tail Mr. Strife as I suspect he already is, and I want you two to try to locate the other members of AVALANCHE. That's Barret Wallace, Aerith Gainsborough, Tifa Lockhart, Yuffie Kisaragi, and Experiment Red XIII. With party members such as Barret and Red XIII, it shouldn't be difficult to spot them. Do not engage them; just do whatever it takes you to make sure they do not get on board the ship. I severely doubt Heidegger's men are capable of holding them off, but if they do make it on board, it's on his head. Any questions?"

"Yeah," said Reno. "If they notice us and attack?"

"Then take them out quickly and with as little commotion as possible. No kills though. We need them alive. Just apprehend them and have some soldiers assist you in bringing them to a brig if it comes to that. Now if that's all, I have a sniping position to get to so I can make sure President Shinra isn't assassinated."

"Yes sir," said Elena.

"Aye aye skipper," Reno drawled, retracting his rod and putting it away as he took Elena by the arm and led her away. Elena, not wanting to be treated like she was one of Reno's whores but not knowing where to go otherwise, let him lead her. Besides, she thought, he wasn't that bad a guy. She looked back once more at Tseng who was already on his PHS with Rude and he gave her a reassuring nod. She then turned back and focused on her task at hand and joined Reno in the conversation he was attempting to have with her.

* * *

It hadn't been hard to find Cloud at all. As Tseng had predicted, he was trying to fall in line with the other Shin-Ra soldiers but fell short. Rude had been tailing him for a good 20 minutes now without being noticed. Cloud appeared to be more or less exploring the military base rather than trying to progress toward the ship, but than again, maybe he was looking for something else first. In any case, the parade would be starting soon, at the moment it seemed like Cloud would be participating in it. He had been caught wandering aimlessly by someone who somehow managed to pull rank on him, and now Cloud was being drilled in the proper gun salute that would be performed for the president before boarding the ship. Rude was now waiting inside of a maintenance closet across the hall from the locker room where Cloud was now, and would be able to see when they came out. He had been playing cards in one of the local bars when Cloud came in. The fact that a Shin-Ra soldier would come in there is what first roused suspicion in him, and then Rude followed him to the Turk bar, which he also went in and left soon afterward. Rude followed him back to the barracks, receiving a phone call from Tseng along the way telling him to do what he was already doing. It sucked too, because he had been winning at cards. "I better find out something useful from this, or I'm gonna be pissed," he thought to himself. Then he thought of Reno and Elena alone together, and his mood lightened.

* * *

"Damn it Reno!" exclaimed an exasperated Elena. "Why do you have to make everything so difficult!" They had been traveling across rooftops in search of the members of AVALANCHE and Elena was having difficulty keeping up. Luckily for her the rooftops of Upper Junon were close enough together for jumping across, but it was extremely tiring on her. Reno was crazy, she told herself. Only he would use this method for travel. She didn't know whether she was angrier because she had to do this, or because it was actually very effective. She had a clear view of all the alleyways below her… falling would probably kill her, but the paths Reno took her on always meant they were jumping to a lower roof or a lower catwalk that could be climbed to a higher roof.

"C'mon Elena, don't you think this is fun? It's the risk that makes all this worth doing," he replied. She gave him a disgusted sigh before continuing to follow him. They leapt again to a lower rooftop and when Reno turned behind him to peer over the edge, he abruptly held up a hand to tell Elena to be quiet. She followed his gaze to find below them, running in a discrete manner, a large black man and smaller person in sailing suits, as well as three Shin-Ra soldiers – one of them a quadruped with a long red tail. "AVALANCHE," whispered Reno. They quietly followed along the edge of the rooftop after them, watching where they went.

They continued leaping across the rooftops when necessary, keeping up a good pace with the AVALANCHE members below. Elena was getting more comfortable with it the more she did it, and was finally starting to see Reno's logic behind this method of tailing. From the look of things, it seemed like they were indeed making their way towards the ship.

"Now didn't I tell you this would work, love?" asked Reno in a voice low enough so their prey wouldn't overhear them.

"Yes, Reno… you were right…" she responded, ignoring the pet name he'd called her, as she was already getting used to these. How her sister was ever attracted to this man…

"Alright then. I hear you've got one hell of an arm."

"What?"

"Your pitching. I want you to throw a stun grenade down there. Sure they'll notice, but they'll have no idea where it came from. You're packing right? I thought that was your thing."

Elena double checked her belt just to make sure she hadn't forgotten them, and sure enough she had a good handful of grenades strapped. She jumped another gap between buildings and unclipped a grenade from her belt. She hoped this would work. She had been told after training once that she had an amazing throwing arm, but she didn't know if the man had been sincere or was just humoring her, but she'd find out in a second. She pulled out the pin and hurled the grenade downwards. It sailed further down the alley than AVALANCHE had run yet, but then it hit a wall and bounced backward, then hitting Barret in the shoulder, stopping him in his tracks. The others stopped as well in order to see what had fallen, and just as Barret spotted it lying on the ground it exploded, and a grey-white cloud filled the area, obscuring Elena's view of what happened next.

"Damn, that was awesome!" exclaimed Reno, who had also stopped in his tracks to see what had happened below. The cloud was rising, and Elena still couldn't make out anything below when Reno tossed her some sort of clip. "Tranqs. You might need them if anyone didn't go out after that. They'll be expecting another grenade, but you can still snipe shots down at them."

"What about you?" Elena asked while ejecting the clip she had in her Outsider and replacing it with the tranquilizer bullets Reno had given her.

"I'm going down to collect the prize. Don't worry, they won't spot me." Elena watched him reach into his pocket and pull out a purple materia. He tossed it in the air and sprung out his baton with the other hand. He then caught the purple in the same hand that he held the baton in, and merged the two together. After a short spell, Reno faded from sight… literally. Elena rolled her eyes thinking of Reno's showmanship, and then focused her attention on the now-fading cloud below her.

As the smoke cleared, the figures of Barret and Aerith came into focus. They were lying unconscious on the ground. However, Elena didn't see Red XIII, Tifa, or Yuffie anywhere, which meant they most likely made it out of the blast. It looked like she would have to tranq them. First she would have to find them though. If she was lucky, Reno would find them and take them out for her before she'd even have to shoot anything.

She looked over all the sides of the building, but she couldn't see anything other than the unconscious bodies of Barret and Aerith. No sounds caught her attention either, save for the faint parade music in the distance. It was on her second round back to the side where she'd tossed the grenade when she was startled by an animalistic growl that emanated from a fiery red wolf-like creature dressed in a ShinRa soldier's uniform. She was on her back in seconds with the wolf on top of her, try to claw or bite as she struggled.

Though she was a junior Turk, that didn't mean she didn't know how to deal with this kind of situation. After all, Turks, no matter how long they'd been in that position, were lethal. She took her first opportunity to roll backwards onto her shoulders and kicked the creature over her head while rolling back onto her feet. She quickly spun around and plugged a tranq into the creature while it was still recuperating. However, one bullet didn't seem to be enough for it, because it just let out a howl and charged straight for her, dodging the next two tranqs that Elena fired at it while moving quickly backwards. She finally managed to hit it a second time just as it leapt in the air at her again. In fact, a few things seemed to all happen at once in this moment.

The tranq hit the creature square in the chest as it bound toward her, but as it leapt, a strange fire seemed to surround it while a golden glow reflected off of its fur. However, as Elena was running backwards, her left foot caught the edge of the roof and she tripped backwards over the edge and down one story before landing on a fire escape. She saw the lupine creature fireball over her and land on an adjacent roof where it sounded like it stopped moving.

When Elena regained her breath and the energy to focus, she realized she could hear someone running up the fire escape. Getting to her feet and raising her gun, she turned just in time to meet a punch in the face that knocked her right back into delirium. Her initial reaction and thought process was to punch back, and it just so happened that her throwing arm was ideal for throwing hook punches.

Tifa took the blow hard, but rolled with the punch and surprised Elena with spinning back kick that told her that Tifa was no novice in martial arts. Another hammer fist from Tifa put Elena down on her back. She brought her foot up and was about to bring it down on Elena's chest when suddenly, a large man in a suit clotheslined Tifa from behind bringing her down. Rude grabbed Elena and with great ease, threw her onto the roof. Elena watched on, recovering, while Rude adjusted one of his gloves and then suddenly pounded his fist downward onto the fire escape. The entire rig trembled with a loud groan and then after a brief pause that allowed Rude to run up to the roof, it collapsed all the way down to the ground, with Tifa still on it.

"How'd you get here so fast?" Elena asked breathlessly, while Rude helped her back onto her feet.

"I could hear you guys fighting from blocks away," replied Rude. "I lost Cloud when some squad leader pushed him into the march and I reported to Tseng that I couldn't follow anymore, so Tseng's looking out for a soldier acting oddly. Then I decided to help you two out, and it was easy enough to find you. However, I still think Reno might need help. He's managed to pick a fight with her again."

Elena looked to the other side of the roof as Rude ran over there, and for the first time she noticed Reno and Yuffie locked in a serious fight. She had some strange giant shuriken in her hands and Reno was parrying her attacks furiously with his rod. Apparently at some point his cloaking wore off. When Rude made it over there, he was instantly greeted by a cartwheel dropkick ninja thing that Elena wasn't entirely sure happened in that order, but Rude managed to catch her and throw her onto the ground. Reno swung his baton down at her, but she blocked with her own weapon and then jumped back on to her feet. She shielded a punch from Rude with her shuriken and then pushed the flat side of it into his face before Reno wrestled his arm around her neck into a sleeper hold and shoved the prod end of his baton into her side, but it didn't look like he shocked her. Seeing that the fight was over, Elena made her way over and overheard Reno talking to Yuffie.

"…there you go, Princess. I been waiting for your call, yo. Didn't think you'd leave me waiting this long."

"Gawd! In your dreams, asshole. Aerith, now!" Yuffie suddenly Houdini'd her way out of Reno's grip and dove to the ground. Elena turned with her partners just in time to see Aerith standing on the roof that Red XIII had landed on. She seemed to be using some sort of magic. Elena however, had no time to try and guess which spell as a large chocobo steered by a moogle unexpectedly fell from the sky and charged at an incredible speed toward the three Turks. Elena raised her gun to fire, but wasn't fast enough and everything suddenly faded into darkness.

* * *

Rufus had never been a big fan of steamboats, to add to his list of dislikes. This was largely due to the fact that he had very poor sea legs. Add that to the three days he had been on the ship and his irritability was through the roof. In any case he stood in the middle of the command room with Heidegger, pacing as best he could, while discussing their plans to deal with everything that was going on. The room was soundproof, and so he knew he could speak freely should anyone untrustworthy come by the doors or windows. There hadn't been any reports on sightings of Sephiroth or AVALANCHE that had reached Rufus' ears. This was either an extremely good sign or a terribly bad one.

"Still no word on Sephiroth or AVALANCHE?" he asked Heidegger.

"Naw… I really don't think you have anything to worry about." Heidegger replied quickly, and Rufus knew he was hiding something.

"Why do I get the feeling you're going to be eating those words soon then?" Heidegger said nothing, but merely shuffled his feet uncomfortably. Rufus paced a bit more while going over his plans in his head. Once they touched shore in Costa Del Sol, he and Heidegger would immediately return to Midgar via helicopter in secret, so as to throw off any possible pursuers or spies. The ship would then sail back to Junon where the remaining soldiers and sailors would be publicly welcomed back to even further the illusion that Rufus had stayed behind. He had a lot of work he wasn't looking forward to lying ahead of him, and as much as he hated sailing, it beat going back to Midgar, he figured.

"Mr President…"

"Yes?" Rufus asked as he turned to Heidegger, with a half-tone of relief in his voice, hoping for some sort of answer. He knew better though, and when Heidegger replied it only solidified his doubt.

"There is one thing…" Heidegger mumbled before clearing his throat and looking Rufus in the eye." "They found a letter back at Headquarters. Hojo… he still hasn't been seen, but the letter is from him. He's resigned his post." There was an unmistakable quality of depression in his voice that Rufus couldn't help but understand. It's true that Heidegger had a lot to handle at the moment that sprung on him so suddenly. This sudden news about Hojo couldn't be helping his situation in the slightest, and so instead of yelling at Heidegger, he took a breath and responded dejectedly casual.

"And we're certain it isn't a forgery?"

"Positive."

"Then I guess we'll have to find him. I've never trusted the man, and this just proves he must be hiding something. Heidegger, I'll assume the responsibilities of the search for Sephiroth. I want you to hand off everything else you're working on to Tseng. Your top priority is to find Hojo, and I want you to have as clear a head as possible on this." Heidegger's mood instantly lightened, and Rufus knew he had been right about stress. There were times when Heidegger could be a decent man.

"Gya haa… thank you, Mr. President. I can assure you he will be located and brought into custody as soon as possible." Rufus knew he wasn't lying either. With nothing else to worry about, Heidegger would get his job done quickly and efficiently. Rufus was even willing to let that stupid horse-laugh slide this once. As for taking on the responsibilities of Sephiroth, Rufus felt like he'd already been doing that anyways, and he knew Tseng could handle anything thrown at him. Perhaps his problems would soon be dealt with and Rufus could focus on his new position as head of the company, or even have time to mourn his father. His thoughts were interrupted quickly however, as a voice rung out over the intercom.

"Emergency alert! Reports of a suspicious character found! Those not on detail, search the ship. Report when found! I repeat. Suspicious character found on board! Those not on detail, search the ship. Report when found!"

Rufus just hung his head in defeat. He had absolutely no luck. Without any emotion in his voice, he gave Heidegger his orders.

"Deal with this," he said. "Go do whatever it is you have to. Just hope that this isn't anything that will get out of hand." Without a word, Heidegger swept from the room, clearly not wanting to invoke any anger from Rufus. It didn't matter though, as Rufus doubted he had any energy in him at the moment to be angry, and so he sat down in the closest chair and just listened to the intercom's message repeat over and over.


End file.
